Jérôme Champagne, the former senior Fifa executive who is seeking to replace Sepp Blatter as president, has admitted that he has yet to gain the five nominations required from member associations in order to stand, and has hit out at his rivals describing them as “golddiggers”.

The former French diplomat, a close ally of Blatter until he was ousted from Fifa amid a power struggle in 2009, has made a desperate last-ditch appeal to the 209 member associations in a bid to gain the required nominations by 29 January.

“The feeling exists that the final result of the election is set and it would be risky to sign them. There is also a fear of being singled out or punished,” he said, referring to the stranglehold that Blatter has on votes in certain parts of the world.

“And now individuals without a programme declare their interest, and golddiggers openly using Fifa for their own benefit, rather than being of service.”

Some have openly questioned Champagne’s motivation, claiming that he is a stalking horse for Blatter or that he has ulterior motives.

But he has continually insisted that he is standing for the right reasons and wants to see a rebalanced, transparent Fifa that can tackle inequality in the game. He is understood to have at least two nominations but has yet to receive the required five.

“I have privileged the defence of Fifa at the very moment when so many still hope to weaken it with the objectives of limiting the world governance of the game, or enslaving it for their own interests,” he wrote in a passage likely to be interpreted as a criticism of Uefa. There is no love lost between Champagne and the Uefa president, Michel Platini, who is backing Prince Ali’s bid to oust Blatter.

“I have also refused the demagoguery to blame only one person for all the wrongs in football when the responsibility is obviously collective,” added Champagne, responding to those who have criticised his failure to openly hit out at Blatter personally.

“Finally I have opposed the current simplistic analysis according to which all is wrong in Fifa, by presenting a programme to continue what has been done correctly during the last 40 years and to change what needs to be changed.”

Under rules quietly introduced by Fifa in 2013 and seen as an attempt by Blatter to shore up his position, any potential candidates have to receive five nominations from member associations and have been active in football for two of the previous five years. Previously, candidates only had to have the backing of one member association.

Prince Ali is unlikely to have any problem clearing the hurdle, given the backing of Platini. But Ginola, who admitted last week at a chaotic press conference that he had not yet approached any FAs, is likely to find it more of a challenge.

The election will take place at Fifa’s Congress in May, with Blatter seeking a fifth term as president despite the 78-year-old insisting his current four-year term would be his last.